How to Disable WebRTC in Various Browsers

WebRTC allows high-quality audio/ video communication and peer-to-peer file-sharing straight from the browser, while also doing wonders for bandwidth usage and latency involved in those network interactions. And yet, people are looking into how to disable WebRTC in their browser because it poses a privacy leak – especially for VPN and proxy users.

Unfortunately, not many users know about this vulnerability, which is why it often passes under the radar of people trying to increase their online privacy. In fact, it can’t even be called a “security hole,” since this is how WebRTC behaves by design.

Before you learn about how to disable WebRTC in your browser, you can also check if your VPN is leaking your IP. Otherwise, feel free to skip to your browser below.

How to Check for IP Leaks

You can easily discover whether your VPN has a WebRTC IP leak by following these easy steps:

Take note of your IPv4 and IPv6 addresses from websites such as WhatIsMyIP, then close the website.

Enable your VPN software on a server-country of your choosing.

Visit the same website you used at step 1. Your new IP address should reflect the “change” in country.

Due to how IPv6 is handled, your public IPv6 address may still be visible if you use a WebRTC-enabled browser.

The IPv6 leak can also be verified through San Francisco researcher Daniel Roesler’s own demo, or websites such as BrowserLeaks and IPLeak. You can check for leaks after you’ve disabled WebRTC with one of the guides below.

How to Disable WebRTC in Chrome & Opera

These browsers don’t have a built-in way to disable WebRTC, but there are a few free third-party extensions that can help, all present on the Chrome store or Opera Add-ons page.

WebRTC Leak Prevent

WebRTC Control

Easy WebRTC Block

uBlock Origin also has filters for website scripts that collect data through WebRTC, along with its pop-up and advertisement blocking capabilities. Here’s an in-depth guide on how to use uBlock Origin, as well.

For those that want to go really in-depth, there are add-ons such as ScriptSafe or uMatrix which you can configure to only allow scripts and other website elements from the domains you absolutely trust. The filters are customizable, but using either add-on can be time-consuming, to say the least.

Not to mention you would really need some knowledge about what each filter does to use the extensions efficiently. Otherwise, you would be blocking crucial features (like online video players) on a lot of websites. The extensions can also take up quite a bit of RAM to keep active, especially if you work with multiple tabs.

It should be noted that these extensions do not actually fix the IP leak itself, but rather block attempts by visited websites to collect IP addresses. Moreover, cookies can also store this information in some cases, so don’t be surprised if your IPv6 address still appears on some IP-detecting websites.

How to Disable WebRTC in Chrome for Android

Although Google didn’t add an option for desktop users, it seems the Android version has such a capability. Here’s how to disable WebRTC in Chrome for Android:

In the address bar, type chrome://flags/#disable-webrtc and tap Enter.

For the option that appears (should be WebRTC STUN origin header), tap Enable.

Reboot your phone for the settings to take effect.

Note that this method might not work in newer versions of the browser.

How to Disable WebRTC in Firefox

Although they exist on the add-ons page, Firefox users don’t need to rely on third-party extensions to disable WebRTC. Here’s how to do it from the browser’s own settings:

In the address bar, type about:config and press Enter.

Click on “I accept the risk!” in the warning screen that appears.

There will be a Search box beneath the address bar. Type media.peerconnection.enabled in it.

Double-click on the search result. The Value column should change to “false.”

The steps above work for the mobile version of Firefox as well.

For advanced users, uMatrix is also available on Firefox, along with the NoScript add-on. They work much in the same way as ScriptSafe, so use at your own risk.

How to Disable WebRTC in Microsoft Edge

While Edge can’t disable WebRTC completely, at least there is a setting to stop it from revealing your local IP address. Here’s how to activate it:

In the address bar, type about:flags and press Enter.

Under “WebRTC”, there’ll be an option to hide your local IP over these types of connections. Click on the checkbox to activate it.

As always, you can use one of the methods described in the beginning to check if you still have IP leaks. Unfortunately, there is not much of a benefit in only hiding the local IP address, since it is useless in terms of tracking. A more secure browser would be advised.

How to Disable WebRTC in Safari

While Apple announced WebRTC for Safari 11 for iOS and macOS, there is no way to disable it as of yet. Still, Safari is stricter when it comes to what device and network details it shares with websites, so WebRTC leaks are less likely.

Will Securing Your Router Do Anything?

While enabling VPN on a router saves time in setting up the software for each device around the home, it doesn’t exactly do anything in terms of WebRTC leaks. That is why it’s recommended you disable WebRTC in your browser using the methods above, even if you have secured your router with a VPN.